Homemade Jelly

Making homemade jelly is a great way to take advantage of fresh fruit. You can make jelly from a variety of fruit, both fresh and frozen. Some fruit that you can use include strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, peach, plum and more. Homemade jelly or jam can last for up to a year, and longer if frozen.

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Things You'll Need

Fruit

Pectin

Sugar

Canner (this is a big pot used to sterilize the jars after filling)

Canning Jars

Lids (buy new, you cannot use these more than once because they have to seal)

Rings for the lids

Gather fruit. You will need 8 cups of your chosen fruit.

Sterilize the jars. To keep the jars from breaking, they should be kept hot until the jelly is ready to be put into the jars.

Prepare the fruit. You need to wash and take off any seeds or stems.

Mash the fruit to desired consistency. You need to end up with six cups of mashed fruit.

Mix ¼ cup sugar with the dry pectin. This will prevent clumps from forming in the pectin as you mix it with the fruit.

Bring the fruit and pectin to a boil, stirring frequently.

Add sugar. The box of pectin should tell you how much additional sugar to use in the jelly. Generally you will need four cups of sugar for low sugar pectin, and for regular pectin you will need seven cups.

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Warm the lids in hot water. This will soften the gummed surface and prepare it for sealing. Do not bring the lids to a boil.

Remove the foam from the surface of the jelly.

Test the jelly for thickness. Using a metal spoon, chilled in ice water, dip a small amount of the hot jelly out. Allow it to cool and if the jelly does not thicken to your desired amount, you can add additional pectin. If adding more pectin, bring the jelly to a boil again for a minute.

Let the jelly stand for several minutes and stir. This will mix the fruit up in the jelly.

Store jelly until you are ready to eat it.

Tips & Warnings

You can substitute honey or agave for the sugar.

If the lid does not seal properly, the jelly can spoil before you eat it.